Collaborating with Strangers: Facilitating Workshops in Libraries, Classes, and Nonprofits

Bess G. de Farber, April Hines, and Barbara J. Hood

Item Number: 978-0-8389-1542-4

Publisher: ALA Neal-Schuman

Price: $55.00

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160 pages8.5" x 11"SoftcoverISBN-13: 9780838915424
Year Published: 2017
AP Categories: A, C, I
Interaction with strangers cultivates creativity and provides opportunities for joining forces to achieve great ends. However most people tend to avoid talking or working with people they do not know, whether in the library, a classroom, or in academic and nonprofit settings. And to do so is to short-circuit much of the creative potential that is so necessary for innovation, and that organizational stakeholders crave. Enter CoLAB. Developed and presented by de Farber at workshops across the country, and used by the authors to successfully spur collaboration at the University of Florida (including faculty-librarian, librarian-librarian, librarian-student, faculty-faculty, student-student, and student-librarian-community member), it showcases the power of face-to-face conversations. Leading readers through a unique framework that breaks down barriers to collaboration while also kindling long-lasting enthusiasm, this manual includes

testimonials from workshop participants that demonstrate the benefits of a Collaborating with Strangers workshop;

step by step guidance on every aspect of organizing and presenting a CoLAB workshop;

helpful photographs and diagrams that show prep and workshops in action;

ready to use surveys for assessment before and after the workshop;

grant proposal development techniques for bringing two or more organizations together on a project;

pointers on how to adapt the workshop for ice-breakers, conference programs, or classrooms; and

samples of workshop promotion pieces that can be adapted as needed.

Libraries have always connected patrons to resources and information; this resource shows how, through successful group collaboration, organizations can extend that connection to include the talents and assets of community members.Table of Contents

PrefaceAcknowledgments

Chapter 1 The Importance of Strangers and Face-to-Face Conversations

Deliberately Connecting with Strangers

The Coffeehouse Effect

Notes

Chapter 2 Introduction to CoLAB Workshops

What Is a CoLAB Workshop?

What Happens during CoLAB Workshops?

Origin and History of CoLAB Workshops

Strategies for Designing Effective Profile-Signs

Basic Principles and Conditions That Yield the Best Results

Why Libraries and Library Employees Are Ideal Conveners and Facilitators

Bess G. de Farber, a nonprofit management specialist, is the grants manager for the
University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries and served in the same capacity
at University of Arizona Libraries. Author of Collaborative Grant-Seeking: A Practical
Guide for Librarians, she has provided grantsmanship instruction throughout the past
28 years and has led efforts to secure millions in grant funding for nonprofits
and academic libraries. Her research interest is asset-based collaboration development.
As president of ASK Associates and a certified professional facilitator through
the International Association of Facilitators, she created the CoLAB Planning Series,
group processes serving thousands of individuals and their organizations to find new
collaborative partnerships.

April Hines is the journalism and mass communications librarian for the University
of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries. Her research areas include inquiry-based
information literacy instruction, face-to-face facilitative processes, library marketing
and outreach, and social media engagement. She has presented and published on such
topics as academic librarians and personal branding, using ethnic newspapers to reach
underserved communities, and developing a library student ambassador program. She
has participated on several grant projects and leads the Collaborating with Strangers In
and Outside Mass Communications project sponsored by Procter & Gamble.

Barbara J. Hood is the director of communications for the University of Florida
George A. Smathers Libraries. She promotes the libraries for academic, library, and
general public communities at local, state, national, and international levels. She
has coordinated and photographed many hundreds of library events for donors, the
campus, and the local community. She has participated on several grant-awarded
project teams, most notably the Institute for Museum and Library Services’ National
Leadership Grants project “The Panama Canal—Preserving a Legacy, Celebrating a
Centennial, Leveraging an Extraordinary Human Achievement.”Praise for Collaborating with Strangers

”This book offers a fresh new set of strategies for engaging communities of people in dialogue. It offers a clear description of the concept of CoLAB, then it lives up to its billing as a how-to guide by clearly laying out the steps needed to run one of these dynamic meetings. This is a must-have resource for anyone who wants to engage communities in collaborative action. Very timely and much needed. Congratulations to the writing team for producing such a valuable resource."
— Ingrid Bens, author of Facilitating With Ease!Reviews